President Volodymyr Zelensky said on his Telegram channel that four Ukrainian lawmakers have been stripped of their citizenship by decree. The president released a video message outlining the move as a response to actions that he characterized as a betrayal of the Ukrainian people.
In his remarks, Zelensky warned that if members of parliament serve the interests of murderers who arrived on Ukrainian soil rather than the citizens themselves, then the government will take proportional steps. The announcement identified Viktor Medvedchuk, Andriy Derkach, Taras Kozak, and Renat Kuzmin as the four deputies who had their Ukrainian citizenship revoked. All were members of the Verkhovna Rada during the 9th convocation, elected in 2019, and were accused of treason and connections with Russian authorities. Following the onset of fighting on February 24, they departed Ukraine and have remained abroad since then.
Medvedchuk, who had faced treason charges, reportedly escaped house arrest on February 21 and was apprehended by the Security Service of Ukraine on April 12. By April 14, a court had seized a substantial portion of his assets and those of his spouse, including 26 cars, 30 plots of land, 23 houses, 32 apartments, 17 parking facilities, a yacht, and stakes in 25 companies and enterprises.
On September 21, a prisoner exchange occurred, swapping Medvedchuk and 55 Russian soldiers for 215 Ukrainian servicemen, among them fighters and commanders affiliated with the Azov National Regiment, a unit that is banned in Russia. Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary for the Russian president, declined to comment publicly on the Ukrainian exchange, and Medvedchuk subsequently traveled to Russia after the exchange concluded.
Medvedchuk’s background traces back to the Krasnoyarsk region, where he was born in 1954. His father faced exile for joining the Ukrainian nationalist movement, and the family returned to Ukraine in the 1960s. After completing secondary education, Medvedchuk pursued law, representing various dissidents during his early career. He has recalled that, during the Soviet era, he worked as a lawyer rather than a researcher, and he has acknowledged that he had hoped to become a researcher at one point. His critics have pointed to perceived indifference toward clients who faced political persecution.
Medvedchuk’s political trajectory began in 1993 with membership in the Human Rights Party. He later led the Ukrainian Social Democratic Party in 1998 and, during the 1999 presidential race, headed the campaign team for Leonid Kuchma. By 2002 he had become the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, a position that placed him at the center of national decision making. In 2004, he was widely referred to as “Putin’s godfather,” after the Russian president allegedly became the godfather to Medvedchuk’s child, a label reflecting the close ties observed between the two leaders during that period.
Medvedchuk remained a prominent figure in Ukrainian politics, participating in prisoner exchange negotiations in 2017 between Kyiv and Donetsk. Then-President Petro Poroshenko described Medvedchuk as acting as a de facto representative of Moscow. He later became the head of the Opposition Platform – For Life party in 2018, and in 2021 Zelensky imposed sanctions on him in connection with an investigation into the supply of coal from territories controlled by separatists to Russia.
In the 1990s Medvedchuk expanded into business, though he achieved prominence in the public eye as a political figure. By 2021 his wealth was estimated at about 620 million dollars, with holdings spanning the energy sector, metallurgy, real estate, and media interests. This blend of political influence and business ownership has fueled ongoing scrutiny by Ukrainian authorities and international observers alike.